While Scripture teaches that God has given the responsibility of the pastoral role to men (1 Timothy 2:12; 3:1-13, Titus 1:6-9),[1] there are a myriad of meaningful ministries for women. Unfortunately, many women culture mistakenly associate being “out front” or “in charge” with being more valuable. However, when we shift our focus away from the few roles God has reserved for men, we’ll find that the ministries available to women are part of the lifeblood of a local church’s witness to the world.

So often we feel alone as parents. But we aren’t supposed to do it alone. Raising kids who love God and love others doesn’t have to be filled with shame. We don’t have to fear that we’re somehow messing them up. In this episode, we break down Proverbs 22:6, and how we can raise our children “in the way.”

Leading our children in “the way,” is about the environment we raise them in. Which is why we created a community called TwentyTwoSix. A way to connect with our kids at a heart level. Without needing to add anything more to our already busy day, we lay out content for the four key times of the day prescribed by Moses–morning prayers, drive-time games, dinnertime stories, and bedtime questions.

A couple of years ago, I came across an article put out by Desiring God entitled: Dad’s Write in Your Bible. The article was written by Jonathan Parnell, who is a pastor in Minneapolis. In the article, he picks up on the idea that our time in God’s Word and prayer not only benefit us but those around us. That’s because God’s Word transforms us into a river of living water that flows from us to our friends, family, co-workers, and community.

So there I am, a sophomore in college, half asleep in my 9 a.m. Philosophy 101 class. Half asleep, that is, until the professor’s lecture takes a sudden turn from Kant to Christianity.

“Jesus didn’t want people to worship him,” he informs the class. “Paul introduced that idea much later. Most people don’t realize that Paul invented Christianity.”

A few moments pass as I chew on the professor’s foray into theology. I’m a Christian. I should say something. I raise my hand.

“That’s an interesting perspective about Paul,” I say. “But I have a question. Before Paul accepted Jesus, he traveled from city to city to persecute members of the early Christian movement. He put Christians in prison. He even had some killed.”

“What’s your point?” the professor asks, looking a little annoyed.

“How could Paul spend years of his life persecuting members of a religion that he supposedly invented?”

Talking about your faith with a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) can be challenging. An evangelical friend recently told me about such a conversation. “I know that we hold different beliefs, but you couldn’t tell that from our conversation.” I asked her what she meant. “Well, I asked him if Mormons believe that salvation is by grace alone. He actually agreed! But I thought they believe in a works-based salvation.” She concluded that he was lying.

Like this:

Most parents would agree that their children don’t want to wait for anything. The last thing kids want to hear is Mom say, “Not now.” It can prompt anger, frustration, even hopelessness. This “dis-ease” of waiting follows most of us into our adult years. We may not respond with the same emotional outbursts as children, but most of us still hate waiting for what we want.

And our modern society just makes it worse. We want everything done quickly — and new devices constantly spring up to meet those demands and encourage our impatience. We are not used to waiting, and the more our technology caters to our immediate desires, the less we feel willing to wait.

We know that abortion is wrong. We know we must defend the unborn. But when we’re face-to-face with a woman who is considering an abortion, we don’t always know what to say. Here are five ways to start a conversation with her:

I have said both of these things on more than one occasion. And you know what? God still lets me worship Him. I’m still allowed in the throne room. Believe me, if there was a tolerance for how many times you can say or think something stupid, I would’ve been thrown out years ago.

I tend to let my emotions get the best of me, especially in the heat of the moment. If something happens to make me angry or upset two minutes before church starts, I might as well sit in the lobby.

When some Christians hear about countering culture, they resonate with the idea that we need to take a stand against certain sins in our day—materialism, sexual immorality, a disdain for human life, etc. Other Christians hear about countering culture and they worry that it’s a call to put up your fists, vote for a certain political candidate, or become antagonistic toward your unbelieving neighbors. Sometimes the difference between these two groups can be seen in whether one views the culture as the enemy or as the mission field.

Kids today are growing up in a compulsively connected world. Information is incessant, smartphones are ubiquitous, and with a click or a tap young people have 24/7 access to a never-ending digital conversation.

Of course, such connectivity comes at a cost. Much of this information is pumped out by an agenda-driven media with a message of their own—a message that sounds good, nice even, but is inherently poisonous. It is becoming louder, stronger, and constant. And young people are drinking it in.

Maybe this is something new for you, one of your resolutions for the New Year. Or maybe you’re a seasoned, veteran reader, just hoping to maintain the patterns God has blessed over many years now.

However much or little you have read in the past, though, will not change what’s going to happen soon, probably even sometime in the next week. Maybe it’s happened already. You’ll sit down for your time in the word, spend half an hour in Genesis or Deuteronomy or Psalms or Romans, close the book, and have no idea what to do with what you just read.

As Christians, we are blessed with a long legacy of great hymns. As contemporary Christians, we are blessed with many modern-day hymn writers who are carrying on the art. So how well do you know your hymns and their authors? This little quiz is designed to find out!